


i'm better off, i'm better off (i'm better lost)

by jisxngie



Series: stray kiddos [4]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, M/M, They're all in high school, i dont know how to tag this, i hate myself why can i never finish a fic, ill tag as i go bc i cant think of any rn, this a dystopian high school au hoes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-06-29 15:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15732240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jisxngie/pseuds/jisxngie
Summary: bang chan, senior school captain at kisaragi high, must gather the members of his friend group and flee when a nuclear bomb makes its presence known at the north end of the town.time is ticking down fast. will these nine boys be able to find a new home for their city before radiation reaches the survival camp? or will they perish in the forgotten lands of the unknown?'found wandering lost'. the very first time they had heard of these words, they had been kids.now, they have becomestray kids.(based on the voices mv.)





	1. Chapter 1

it happens on a thursday.

jisung leans back in his chair, kicking his legs up onto the desk in front of him as he throws a crumpled ball of paper, white stained with black from the still fresh ink of his pen, at felix, who whines in response and sticks his tongue out at him. chan elbows him gently in the temple as he walks past, a stack of books in his arms, all wrapped up in neatly folded butcher’s paper courtesy of woojin. a ‘don’t do that’ is said dismissively as the ravenette sets down the pile of books with the others, all neatly tied with delicately cut lengths of ribbon courtesy of seungmin.

minho leans his back against hyunjin’s broader one as they sit on the group of tables out the front, scrolling through something on his phone while the younger boy taps his pen against his book, eyebrows knitted in concentration as he reads through lines printed lifelessly onto hundreds of pages worth of paper.

“woojin, have you finished with the science fiction novels?” chan asks, melodious, easy, calm.  
“yeah,” comes the boy’s reply, just as smooth and mellifluous. “should we take them down to the library now? ms lee said she needed them by one.”

changbin twirls a pen between his fingers, one of them bandaged from a cut he gave himself in home ec. a strong breeze rushes through the window, rustles jeongin’s long strands of raven hair.

“yeah, sure,” chan says, as he looks across the room. “lix, innie, you wanna help woojin and me?”

felix gets up from his spot on the floor almost immediately, and jeongin follows suit, leaving their game of monopoly resting on the vinyl flooring. leather soles squeak against the floor as they hurry to pick up five thin but relatively large books each, smiling at each other as they wait for woojin to put away his scissors and tape and pick up his bag. a choir of birds chirp singsongingly outside, shrill, welcoming the new season as the last of the snow melts away from the towering cherry blossom trees outside.

“come on, then.” woojin smiles, adjusting his blazer and fixing his tie before he gingerly picks up a stack of books himself, all thicker than the ones felix and jeongin are holding. “seungmin, chan and i can trust you with the others right?”

“yes, woojin!” seungmin smiles from his place up the back, tying back hyunjin’s long bangs with a small red ribbon he had lying around. the boy sitting on the floor gives woojin an ‘ok’ gesture with his hand, and woojin turns to chan, smiling.

 

 

the hallways are muted apart from the sounds of their shoes against the floor. bright rays of sunlight find their way through the frosted windows, dancing in snakes across their black boots as they make their way to the stairwell at the end of the hall.

“innie, you have class soon, don’t you?” woojin asks, looking over his shoulder at the boy who’s seemingly in a hushed conversation with felix.  
“no, mr choi said we could have two days out of class to prepare for the book festival, remember?”  
“that’s right.” woojin smiles. “silly me.”

chan walks ahead of them, speeding down the stairs with a spring in his step and his books tucked under one arm. woojin scoffs, shaking his head and speeding up a little bit, breaking out into a light jog to catch up to the brunette. chan’s voice echoes in the stairwell, a playful ‘hurry up, slowpokes!’ belting from his throat as jeongin and felix stop in their tracks and simply watch woojin stop at the top of the stairwell and look down at chan.

“no fair, chan, you play soccer.”

felix looks at jeongin, jeongin at felix, and they laugh.

“come on, can’t keep ms lee waiting,” felix sighs.  
“okay!” jeongin smiles, setting off.

distant chatter catches felix’s attention, something about some history homework that’s due the following day. jeongin lets felix go on ahead, running after chan and clutching the carefully wrapped books to his chest as blonde strands of hair flutter prettily as he jumps off onto the landing at the bottom of the stairs. woojin waits patiently for jeongin, swaying on his feet out of habit and smiling up at the boy as he comes down the last flight of stairs.

an unsteady rumble has woojin turning his head away from jeongin, and looking down the hall. chan and felix seemed to have stopped in their tracks as well, just a little ways into the east hall on the first floor.

“what was that?” jeongin asks, looking around him in every direction possible, climbing back up a couple of steps to check the floor above them. “nothing’s up there.”  
“maybe just a small earthquake?” woojin hums, turning his attention back to jeongin before checking the time on his watch. 12:21pm. “they aren’t uncommon around here.”  
“or maybe there’s a hoard of kids running after something?” chan calls from down the hall.  
“i’m not sure that’s how the earth works, channie.” woojin raises an eyebrow.

another rumble, slightly louder, slightly stronger.

jeongin glances at the floor above them one more time, before beginning to descend the last flight of stairs to where woojin is standing, his fingers still tightly wrapped around the edges of the books in his hands.

then, another rumble occurs on a completely different level to the other two. it shakes the building like it’s a jenga tower after you pull out a risky block. it makes woojin stumble on his feet, his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose as he shoots out his hand to stabilise himself against the wall. felix ends up tripping and crashing down into a heap alongside chan, both groaning at the contact their tailbones make with the hard floors. there are screeches from the floors above them, desks and chairs squeaking loudly as they’re shoved around in a blind panic.

“a-ah—!”  
“jeongin!”

if woojin, chan and felix aren’t safe on solid, level flooring, there’s no way in hell jeongin is safe.

the boy’s footing slips, his balance overthrown as he drops the books to the floor with a loud clatter and not even holding the banister with his strongest grip can stop him from losing his balance completely. there’s another loud clatter of more books being dropped and jeongin squeezes his eyes shut tight, fingers slipping from the cold metal of the banister as his foot catches on his other one and suddenly he can’t feel anything beneath him.

until he comes crashing down onto someone’s chest, that is.

“woojin, jeongin!” they hear chan call from down the hall. the floor is still shaking, albeit a little less intense. jeongin’s fingers tighten in the fabric of woojin’s hoodie, wincing at the dull pain that shoots up his arm when he moves to sit up off of the floor.

“what’s happening?” jeongin asks, watches as felix stands from the floor and looks through the long window in the hallway.  
“i don’t know. come on.”

woojin huffs as he stands and reaches out his hands to help jeongin up. when they look down the hallway, chan and felix are looking through the window with pure fascination in their eyes.

“guys, we _may_ have a problem,” felix says, turning to look at the two of them as they shakily make their way over.  
“what is i—”

woojin cuts himself off when he glances out of the window, his mouth dropping open and his eyes going wide behind thinly rimmed glasses.

“what _is_ that?” jeongin asks, standing on his tippy toes to try and see above the ledge of the window. chan helps him up.  
“if that’s what i think it is, then we’re in serious danger right now,” woojin replies.

felix looks down both ends of the hall. “do you think the others are okay?”

“should be,” chan says, although his voice trembles and worry is etched onto his features.  
“but woojinnie, what is it?” jeongin asks again, dusting off his slacks when chan sets him back down on the floor again.

“that’s a mushroom cloud; it typically occurs after nuclear explosions.”

the hall goes quiet, more desks screech against the floor above them.

“a _nuclear_ explosion?” chan asks incredulously, his eyebrows resting high on his forehead in surprise and concern and disbelief all in one.  
“chan, you’ve been through four years of high school and you’re a science and tech nerd, you should know.”  
“shhh!”  
“but seriously, what’s happeni—?” felix’s question is severed by a loud bang upstairs and multiple yells bouncing around in the vicinity.

“is that—” woojin breathes.  
“the kids.” chan finishes for him, before turning on his heels to make off for the stairwell.

“report to the hods of senior and junior, tell them to get everyone to evacuate!” chan yells behind him, jumping over woojin and jeongin’s dropped books taking two steps at a time as he sprints up the stairs again.

woojin furrows his brows, startles just the slightest when he feels someone tugging at his hand. jeongin is looking out after chan, and the frown on his face settles bad at the bottom of woojin’s stomach.

“we’ll be fine, right?”  
“yeah. i’m sure we’ll be fine.”

 

 

leather boots clack loudly against the tiles of the third floor. chan slips in between groups of people that are rushing out of their classrooms in a panic, girls shrieking as if it’s the end of the world.

“chan, what’s happening?”

the brunette stops in his tracks when someone tugs at his blazer. when he turns, it’s dowoon, looking at him with furrowed brows.

“nuclear drop. get to the courtyard with the others. don’t stay up here.”  
“what are _you_ doing, then?”  
“getting the rest of my friends. they’re still in the council meeting room.”  
“ah, okay then.”

when chan slams open the door to the meeting room, it’s a mess. seungmin and hyunjin are crowded under a desk in the corner, jisung and changbin are looking out of the window and minho is pacing around on the phone. papers are strewn all over the floor, the pen cup on the front desk is knocked over, midnight blue ink from woojin’s little bottle dripping onto spare notice sheets from the week’s noticeboard.

“guys—”  
“chan, did you see that?!” jisung exclaims, his voice dripping with awe.  
“yeah. we have to leave, now.”  
“the intercom in here cut out so we didn’t know what was happening,” minho explains, shoving his phone back into his pocket and picking up his bag from the desk up the front.  
“ah.”

chan reaches out his hands to hyunjin and seungmin, turning his head to changbin, who’s sitting in the windowsill and watching them with a neutral expression on his face.

“what do we do now?” he asks, bringing his leg up so he can rest his chin on his knee. “radiation from that thing’s gonna reach us eventually. we don’t have anything we can do.”  
“all we can do now—” chan huffs as he pulls the two boys up from under the desk, holding them steady while they dust off their blazers and slacks. “—is evacuate and see what’ll happen afterwards.”  
“what about our families?” changbin hums, glancing outside again.  
“i’m sure they’ll be okay.”  
“you and felix have parents overseas that you can escape to. the rest of us don’t have that.”  
“even if we do, we’re not going to leave you guys behind here.”  
“y’all are too calm for whatever the fuck just happened.” seungmin breathes, going to pick up his bag. “come on, the others are probably waiting for us outside.”

chan nods, and picks up his, felix’s and jeongin’s bags from the floor, motioning for the others to follow after him.

 

 

“hey, hands off, asshat.”

woojin pushes jeongin and felix behind him, raising his eyebrow at the police officer that had grabbed at jeongin’s wrist. it’s too crowded in the courtyard; there’s dirt being blown everywhere, girls are screeching and clinging to each other like it’s their last day on earth, jeongin won’t let go of woojin’s hand, felix is busy looking through news reports on his phone.

“guys, we’re back.”

woojin turns on his heels, releases a sharp breath when he sees chan slipping through the crowd with the others following after him like lost sheep.

“thank god.” woojin sighs, fixing up his glasses.  
“what’s happening now?” minho asks, raising an eyebrow and leaning his arm on jisung’s left shoulder.  
“they’re doing a headcount, apparently. need to see who’s here or not. the site of the bomb is completely wiped clean, no one survived.”  
“oh,” seungmin breathes, looking down at the floor.  
“in any case, they’re saying we’re going to evacuate far down south to stop anyone from getting radiation poisoning, or slow it down, at the very least. they’re also saying that gas masks are limited in quantity, so we’re going to have to try to get to a place that’s completely sealed off from the outside world. most of the gas masks are going to women and their children. for us, that means that if we have younger siblings, they’re most likely going to get the gas masks before we do.” woojin huddles them in closer, into one compact little group.

“anyways, we should all try to stick together as best we can,” changbin says, looks around at each of their faces. “nobody’s leaving anybody, got it?”

they all nod.

“attention all kisaragi high students!”

everyone seems to go silent as fast as greased lightning. jeongin clutches onto woojin’s hand tighter.

“it has been brought to our attention that there has been a nuclear bombing at the north end of the town. as a result of this, there is to be no school for the coming weeks until it is confirmed that the atmosphere is safe enough to live in. the annual book festival will also be postponed to a later date. in the meantime, all students and families are to evacuate far down south to prevent the risk of anyone getting radiation poisoning. we can’t afford to lose more than we already have. so please, pack up and evacuate to xx as quick as you can so we can sort this situation out. thank you, students. stay safe.”

changbin scoffs. “‘sort this out’, he says. fucking government won’t do shit other than to just wait it out until it’s ‘safe’ for us again.”

woojin elbows him. “hey, don’t say that, binnie.”

chan leans his weight onto one foot, stuffing his hands into the back pockets of his slacks and looking around.

“chan?” woojin hums, raising an eyebrow.  
“you have your license, right?” chan asks, adjusting his bag strap.  
“yeah, why?”  
“let’s go on saturday. i need to leave before my dad comes back from overseas.”  
“why?”  
“because he’ll send _me_ overseas to ‘protect’ me.”  
“right,” hyunjin sighs, “because your dad’s really high up.”

jeongin blinks. “channie’s leaving?”

“no, no, he’s not,” woojin assures him with a smile. “we’ll be fine.”  
“at this point we might as well live in the sempiternal fields.” changbin huffs.  
“okay, that’s _too_ far.” jisung lightly whacks him over the head, as students hurriedly push past them to get home as soon as possible. “the people that are too dumb to realise what happens when you enter there come out absolutely nutty. it’s like they’re not even human; it’s a lot worse than what’s happening right now. remember what they were describes as? _lost_. they were _found_ wandering _lost_.”

woojin huffs, releases a loud breath of air that has them all silent. there’s dirt being kicked up everywhere around them, and when woojin looks to his right, all he can see for miles is smoke billowing from a certain point, blanketing across the once-blue sky above them and hiding away the bewitching patterns of clouds that smear white against the roaring canvas of baby blue.

“let’s just go home, and rest. jeongin, you can stay with me if you’d like. we’ll sort this out tomorrow, deal?”

“yes, woojin!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi welcome back to vita cant even finish a fucking fic
> 
> anyways this is based off of the voices mv bc those gas masks??? had me in Straight Panic wow
> 
> i hope you enjoy this au as much as i enjoy thinking about it uwu
> 
> i will update my illegal racers au every wednesday (or i hope so) and my dystopian high school au every sunday!!!
> 
> comments and kudos are appreciated!!! tell me what you think about the au!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “will you really?” woojin asks, eventually; his voice is soft, weary. the sound of the others’ voices echo out of the small window of the attic high above them.
> 
> “i will. i’m not gonna leave you behind.”

two round, perfect cherry blossom petals flit through the window and gently find their home against the white paper of the notebook on a perfectly organised desk, the left hand page stained in a ring from a coffee cup placed on it previously. woojin glances at his bed, where jeongin is still sleeping, curled up in a tiny ball with the blankets pulled all the way up to his chin, raven hair sticking up every which way like a halo around his head

woojin presses his phone to his ear, glancing out of his window.

“chan, where are you?” he asks softly when the boy on the other side answers the call almost immediately.  
_“i’m at home. what’s up?”_  
“are we still meeting up with the others?”  
_“yeah, but where?”_  
“your house, or mine. my mom won’t mind.”

another cherry blossom floats in through the window, riding the wind effortlessly before it lands in the palm he extends out. socked feet pad against wooden flooring, and he quickly greets his older brother in passing as he strides into the kitchen to grab a drink. pressing his phone between his cheek and his shoulder, he gently opens the cupboard and pulls out a mug he made for himself when he was in elementary.

 _“okay, so we’re going tomorrow?”_ chan asks through the phone, voice staticky and low, rough from what woojin knows is sleep; they’ve had sleepovers almost every weekend growing up.

woojin only hums in response, chuckling when he can hear the loud footsteps and yelling from lucas on the other end. chan tells him to be a little quieter. they simply sit there in silence for a little bit, comforted by the sound of one another’s breathing, until woojin speaks up.

“yeah. tell the kids.”  
_“okay, i’ll call you soon.”_

the beep of a hung up call always did seem lonely.

woojin startles when there’s a voice behind him.

“you’re going tomorrow?”

he turns, socks sticking to the tiles just the tiniest bit as he spins on his heels. his older brother stands in the doorway, drowning in one of his (read: woojin’s) grey hoodies and sweats that cling low on his hips. woojin takes a sip of his tea, green with a hint of peach and a teaspoon of sugar, and nods.

“is there a problem with that?”  
“you’re leaving mom here?”  
“woohyun, you’re going to be with her. she’s not staying on her own.”  
“what if something happens?”

woojin goes quiet, looks at the floor. fucking _hell_ , his brother’s always been good at guilt tripping.

“then i believe that you and mom will sort it out. chan says we have to go tomorrow.”  
“why? why does he have the say in this?”  
“we all did, woohyun. we just agreed on chan’s plan because we want to protect him from his dad.”

woohyun breathes out a sigh, but it doesn’t sound annoyed, more pensive if anything. tension settles heavily in the air between them like a weighted blanket, and woojin feels constricted although he’s wearing the loosest clothes he has in his closet.

“his dad’s a higher up in the government, right?”  
“yeah, and he’s gonna send chan and lucas back to _australia_ to his mom and hanna if he comes back and chan’s still here.”  
“well, he can just send out the police to go after you guys.”

woojin clenches his fingers around his mug, eyebrows furrowing. he pushes himself off of the counter and strides past woohyun, back towards his room.

“if there’s only one thing i know for sure about chan, it’s that he would _never_ leave us behind.”

 

 

jeongin is awake and looking at his phone when woojin returns to his room.

“morning,” woojin hums, seating himself in his office chair and bringing up his twitter.  
“good morning. have you talked to channie yet?” jeongin’s voice is groggy, sleep induced and woojin chuckles softly.  
“yeah. we’re meeting at his at noon.”

jeongin nods, drags a hand down his face and lays back down. woojin looks back down at his phone.

_**BREAKING NEWS:** xx sent into devastation after nuclear bomb dropped on north end of town. bomb is supposedly from xx. 214 killed in the blast, and a further 500 have contracted radiation poisoning. all citizens must evacuate to xx as soon as possible to prevent radiation poisoning._

_**stab me in the chest and call me daddy [@hhan_ji]** yall got some money because i just wanna get me and my boys outta here tbh_

_**call me captain, i do it for my crew now. [@bangchans_]** everyone at kisaragi, please stay safe. i will work something out with the rest of the council, my friends, don’t stress out too much_

_**attention all xx citizens:** an evacuation warning has been broadcasted to all parts of the town. please gather your family and belongings and escape to xx as quick as possible._

“they make this sound a lot less bad than it actually is,” woojin hums, standing and throwing his phone onto the bed, flopping down next to jeongin.  
“well, we’re still together with the others, if that makes it any better?” jeongin smiles, albeit a little weakly.

woojin chuckles. “i guess.”

 

 

woojin smiles when a familiar face opens the door to chan’s mansion of a house.

“ah, woojin! you’re here! and jeongin!”  
“why, hello to you too, lucas.” woojin smiles. “is chan up in the attic?”  
“yeah, the others are here too.”

the smell of food wafts through the hallway as they make their way to the stairs, and when woojin glances through the glass door to the kitchen, there’s food sitting on the counter, and two bowls hastily thrown into the sink. he scoffs, shaking his head.

“guys.”

woojin pushes the curtain hiding away the back end of the attic aside, the sight of seven boys huddled around chan’s flat screen watching the news report immediately greeting him. chan pokes his head out from the crowd, and beckons the two of them over with his arm.

_“president says all citizens of xx are to evacuate down to xx as quickly as possible. students from storm coast boys academy, kisaragi high, westview elementary and edgewood girls academy are advised to leave anywhere before this coming sunday. nuclear scientists in the country have predicted that radiation at that point will be in very high amounts, and too dangerous for the younger population of this town.”_

“what about the older population?” jisung asks, raising an eyebrow and looking at the group.  
“i mean, they might want to save this generation of kids. like, we still have decades before we die, our parents and older relatives less so. do you get what i mean?” comes minho’s soft reply.  
“i do, but just… ugh.”

chan pats him on the back, stands and stretches. woojin throws himself into chan’s office chair, gently moving the boy’s mic stand out of the way. jeongin seats himself down between seungmin and hyunjin on the couch up the back. the others simply sit on the floor in a semicircle.

“woojin, can i talk to you outside for a minute?” chan speaks up. 

woojin nods, chair squeaking under him and hair falling into his eyes as he stands.

 

 

pink litters the pool in specks, cherry blossoms sitting afloat on the crystal clear water; chan needs to get that cleaned out. the fountain next to the swing set spurts another bout of water, just catching on the sleeve of woojin’s button up as he goes to sit down.

“what is it?” woojin breathes, swinging back and forth, vans digging into the well taken care of grass beneath him.  
“i don’t want to go.”

silence falls over them like a heavy blanket, woojin looks up at him, brows furrowed and confusion in his warm brown eyes.

“what?”  
“i don’t want to go. to the evac site,” chan sighs. he sits on the swing next to woojin, the seat slightly too small for him now that he’s grown up.  
“why not?”  
“because it’s horrible there. i’ve been there, woojin. the kids don’t deserve to have to leave here to just to go somewhere where nothing good happens.”  
“you say that as if you birthed and raised them yourself.” woojin chuckles breathily.  
“i’ve looked after jeongin since he was three. i’m a qualified mother.”  
“that’s like ten years.”  
“yeah, a decade.”

they laugh softly to themselves, a comfortable yet awkward silence falling over them.

“but still,” woojin says after a while, fiddling with the cuffs of his shirt. “why can’t we evacuate there?”  
“because it’s in poverty. the buildings are old, some have collapsed in recent years, the families at the evacuation and adoption centres there _barely_ get fed. it’s horrible, woojin. i don’t want to have to have the others be subjected to that.”  
“but your dad…”  
“yes, i know.” chan sighs, running a hand through wavy strands of brown hair. “when he comes back he’s going to send you guys there, and luke and me back to australia to my mom and sister.”  
“hey. we’re never going to let you go, you know that right?”

chan smiles the tiniest bit, punches woojin gently in the upper arm.

“so why don’t you just tell your dad that you want to stay with us? explain to him how much the others mean to you.”  
“i have. i’ve done it so many times i don’t think he even listens anymore. our only plan of action is to escape.”  
“but chan, there’s radiation _and_ luke’s here by himself if you don’t take him to the evac centre.”  
“woohyun can look after him, can’t he?”  
“well, yeah. i guess.”  
“you’re nervous.”

woojin worries his bottom lip between his teeth, rocking back and forth and playing with a small pebble under his foot. a strong gust of wind blows past like the roar of a dragon, burning against woojin’s sensitive cheeks and his soft hands. another sea of cherry blossoms come floating down onto the grass in front of him in delicate little patterns, staining the grass pink and fluttering off towards the house when another gust of wind blows.

“there’s radiation in the air, chan. we can’t stay here.”  
“i can finesse myself some gas masks.”  
“i don’t think that’s how it works, chan.”

chan clicks his tongue, sighs apprehensively.

“i’ll work something out, then.” he stuffs his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, glancing over at woojin. the older boy stands from his seat, looking up at the sky, blue still blanketed in grey ash like a forest fire is burning its way through the town in the near distance. he shifts his gaze back down to the pool, the once clear blue water tainted with pinks and greens and browns that fall from the trees around it.

“will you really?” woojin asks, eventually; his voice is soft, weary. the sound of the others’ voices echo out of the small window of the attic high above them.

“i will. i’m not gonna leave you behind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am NOT okay
> 
> ok no but i keep thinking of scenarios for this au and i keep screaming because im in love with them ksjdnkjsdfn
> 
> comments and kudos are appreciated!!! tell me what you think!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **ji-shit**  
>  — coumt ofn cgan to get us dsortes
> 
>  **kashoot me now**  
>  — jisung you illiterate fuck

“jeongin, stay behind me, okay?” chan smiles softly, turning to look at the shorter boy standing behind him as the door of the car beside them slams shut. there are people hurriedly rushing through the parking lot, huddled close to one another, large bags thrown over their shoulders as they’re ushered through to the centre. changbin strides up to him, looking at his phone for any new reports.

“chan…”

he turns at the sweet, melodious sound of his name; woojin is looking at him with evident worry in his eyes, seungmin’s fingers clutching onto the cuff of his shirt.

“is everything alright?” chan asks, shielding jeongin and jisung away when an officer stalks past them.  
“yeah, but are you sure this is a good idea? what if we get split up?”  
“if any of you get lost, i’ll find you eventually.” chan adjusts the straps of his bag, straightening himself up. “just, try not to actually get lost, alright?”

woojin sighs, but nods. chan watches him turn on his heels to gather hyunjin, felix and changbin from where they’re playing around on the bench like they’re pirates.

“excuse me sir. i’d like to ask you to move to the evacuation site as quick as you can or we have no other choice but to use force.”

chan spins on his heels, hides jeongin behind his back.

the two men standing there are buff, tall, decked head to toe in expensive, heavy duty police uniforms. chan raises an eyebrow.

“excuse me?” he says, voice loud, stronger than necessary, probably.

chan watches as the slightly larger officer stands forward, flaring his nose, eye twitching and mouth scrunching into what might be a scowl mixed with a smug scoff.

before he has the chance to yell abuse at the nine of them, though, the officer behind him grabs his shoulder.

“hey, uh, isn’t that…” he points at chan with a slightly worried gaze, and the taller guy huffs out an exasperated ‘what?’.

“…isn’t that the governor’s son? chris?”

a twig snaps behind them, chan pays it no mind. he breathes out a sigh, raises his eyebrow again.

“i am. do you have a problem with that?”  
“n-no! not at all, sir! w-we were just leaving!”

the smaller officer drags the taller one off by the arm, whispering to him frantically as if he can’t believe they almost fought with their boss’ son.

changbin coughs. “fucking idiots.”

woojin glances at him. “language!”

jisung snorts.

 

 

yeah, woojin gets why chan said he didn’t want to come here.

the walls of the common room are bare, peeling white paint stained with splotches of brown and green and red and woojin really does _not_ want to know what they’re from. it’s crowded, people shoving other people to the side as they hurry away into hiding, into little crevices away from the prying eyes of the officers shouting at men and women alike.

“guys, over here,” chan calls, threading his way through the crowd to an empty space near the very back of the room.

it reeks like alcohol and smoke, like millions of different perfumes and colognes mixed into one unintelligible mess; chan coughs, sneezes, sniffs and gently wipes at his nose. his nose has always been incredibly sensitive.

(woojin still wonders if that nose ring was a good idea).

“so, what’s our plan now?” woojin asks, huddling the others into the corner, despite changbin’s protests of them not being kids anymore.  
“we can’t stay here any longer than we need to. tomorrow night, we’ll act. for now, let’s sit and observe.”  
“and the others?”  
“i’ve got a job for minho and felix.”  
“and that is…?”

woojin raises an eyebrow, expecting an answer. chan huddles in close, presses his lips to the shell of the taller boy’s ear.

“they’re gonna steal us some gas masks.”

woojin flinches, makes a noise in the back of his throat. someone bumps into him, he excuses them in favour of blinking down at chan, eyelashes fanning over high cheekbones.

“you’re making _them_ steal gas masks?” his asks, voice ghastly, in disbelief.  
“they’re part of the dance squad at school; they’re really quick on their feet.”

woojin still looks worried.

“seungmin and hyunjin are going to distract the officers. two pretty faces, sweet voices, deadly words. perfect combination.”

chan raises his eyebrows, blinking up at the taller boy. “so, how about it? we have to get them involved _somehow_ or else this’ll be for nothing. you gotta have the experience, y’know?”  
“you’re more of an aries than i am.”

chan chuckles, scratches at his hair. jeongin comes up to them and clings to woojin’s sleeve.

“we’re sitting and observing for tonight, right?” he asks, looking between the two seniors.  
“yes. tomorrow we’ll act.”  
“are we going to be okay?” jeongin asks again, and woojin sees chan hesitate for a mere moment.

“yeah. we’ll be fine. just stay alert and follow the officers’ instructions, okay?”

 

 

“attention!”

jisung stops whatever he was rambling about when there’s a loud, booming voice from the front of the dining hall. hyunjin leans against chan’s shoulder, blinking up at the buff man standing up the front, a microphone in his hand.

“thank you. now, as we all know, a bomb has been dropped on the north end of xx. luckily, those of you here were living in the southern end of the city. our main priority is your safety and wellbeing, and for that reason, after 12am tonight, all surrounding gates will be locked and will remain locked until the governor gives us the clear. during that time, no one is to leave, and no one is to enter. do you understand me?”

everyone whispers amongst themselves but eventually nod. chan clenches his fist against the table, and sighs.

“good. listen to the officers and they will direct you to respective areas. also, chris bang, if you are here, please report to constable park immediately. that is, chris bang, please report to constable park immediately.”

chan sighs and mumbles quietly to himself. “it’s chan, thank you.”

“chan. you don’t have to go. they probably want you because your dad wants you up and out of here.”

chan smiles reassuringly at woojin. hyunjin elbows him in the arm.

“don’t go, channie. you have to stay with us.”

chan’s gaze softens and he pets hyunjin’s hair, the raven stands having long since been cut (his bangs reach his cheekbones now, chan quite likes it).

“okay.”

the booming voice is back in a couple of seconds, catching everyone’s attention once more.

“no? chris is not here? alright then.”

chan watches the man put down the microphone and step off stage, striding over to a group of officers decked out in swat uniforms. chan gulps and cowers into hyunjin’s side, pulling his mask up over his mouth.

“wait— but that means we’ll have to be out of here by 12 tonight,” jisung hums, and the rest of the group nods in unison, contemplating.  
“that, in theory, should be fine. hyunjin, seungmin, felix, minho, you guys okay with that?” chan asks softly.  
“yeah, should be.” hyunjin unlocks his phone, pulling up a game. “i can smooth talk my way out of anything, anytime.”  
“what, like the time you sweet talked your out of trouble for denting a teacher’s car with a soccer ball and instead blamed it on sunwoo?” changbin snorts.  
“i’m sorry but i didn’t feel like a suspension, okay?”

woojin tugs at chan’s shirt, and when chan looks over woojin shows him his phone.

 **woohyun**  
— there’s been news. chan’s dad is on his way so you guys might have to move pretty soon  
— more news: his flight’s been delayed, he’s coming tomorrow  
— luke and i can stall for time if you’d like?

“shit. fuck, uh—” chan grabs the phone off of woojin and hits call, putting it on speaker and shushing the rest of the group. “fuck, pick up, woohyun.”

 _“hey. how’s things over there?”_  
“hey woohyun, it’s chan. we’re fine, but the facility’s going into lockdown and we have to be out by 12 tonight.”  
_“fuck. rough, eh? i can stall for time, if you guys want.”_  
“how? the government ain’t letting up just for us.”  
_“you’re the governor’s son. buy some time for yourself. i’ll send out help signals from different locations to distract the officials.”_  
“you’re a legend. you do that.”  
_“anyways, you should probably go now. need to go get your shit together, right?”_  
“yeah, thanks woohyun.”  
_“anytime, chan.”_

the ding of a hung up call has always left an empty feeling in his chest. chan hands woojin’s phone back and stands up, pulling his mask back up and slinging his backpack over his shoulders again.

“minho, hyunjin, follow me. woojin, take felix and seungmin to the other wing. i’ll find out where they’re keeping the masks and i’ll call you.”

woojin sighs, but stands up, pulling his face mask over his mouth as he looks at chan.

“alright. what about the others?”  
“i’ll have them escorted to a private room. if they’re hurt in the process, the officials are gonna have a whole other thing coming for them. come on, let’s go. changbin, you’re in charge.”

changbin fistbumps the air. “fuck yes!”

“language!”

“sorry, woojin!”

 

 

the wooden floors of the hallways creak under chan’s weight, and it’s now that he decides that he hates wearing boots around (they’re so loud!).

“chan, where are we going, exactly?” hyunjin whispers, hiding behind him when he peeks around the edge of a wall, checking the hallways.

they had snuck out during the commotion, quietly, with caps pulled down far over their foreheads and masks pulled above their noses.

“the storage rooms. need to scout it o—”  
“hey, you three!”

chan flinches from his spot, heaves a sigh. “fuck’s sake,” he whispers.

“what do you three think you’re doing here? you should be back with the others in the dining hall.”

it’s two buff men, their uniforms tight around their torsos and faces hardened by years of service. chan straightens himself up and herds hyunjin and minho behind him as he looks up at them.

“sorry, gents. we were just looking around for the bathroom.”  
“there should be one connected to the dining hall. no need to be snooping around here.”

chan smiles from behind his mask, before he pulls the black fabric down and tugs his cap off, exposing his face. the guards seem to halt in their positions.

“what was that, boys? you’re asking the governor’s son to use a public bathroom? god _knows_ what’s been in there.”

hyunjin pulls off his cap and mask, leaning over chan’s shoulder. the first officer looks slightly flustered, but stands his guard. “what’s this? the officers are being rude to their boss’ son? i think we should report this to your father, chris.”

(god, he hasn’t been called that by his friends in a long time. not since he attended primary in australia for two years.)

“a-ah— there is no need for that, kids—”  
“we aren’t kids. we’re young adults.” chan raises an eyebrow, his sweet smile falling from his face as he looks between the two guards. “honestly, do you think i care that you work for my dad? i can have you fired if he finds out you’ve been harrassing us.”  
“technically it isn’t _harassing_ , per say—”  
“it is. and i will have my father know of this incident.”  
“oh god, please don’t.”

this time it’s the second guard speaking, his voice much softer than the first guard, surprisingly. “we’ll do anything.”

minho raises an eyebrow, pulling his mask down just enough to speak. “anything?”

the first guard grumbles, but nods. minho looks at chan, chan hums as if he’s thinking.

 

 

it’s exactly 8:04pm when changbin’s phone dings in his pocket. the clean tiles of the bathroom in their small, three bedroom, two bathroom room on the fourth floor of the housing building next to the evacuation centre are cold against the soles of his feet.

**clown jisung**

**kangagroot**  
— alright  
— i’ve got the locations for the gas masks  
— as well as some rations  
— might need some backup though

 **uwujin**  
— already? wow

 **ji-shit**  
— coumt ofn cgan to get us dsortes

 **kashoot me now**  
— jisung you illiterate fuck

 **uwujin**  
— anyways do you want me to send seungmin and felix now?

 **kangagroot**  
— yes pls  
— we’ll meet you in the courtyard between the two buildginfs  
— buildings*

 **baby shark**  
— good luck channie!! uwu

 **pointy boi**  
— pls bring cheetos if you find any

 **kangagroot**  
— thanks innie!!!! uwu  
— ive got you binnie

changbin snorts. “fuck yeah.”

jeongin pokes his head into the bathroom, brushing some of his hair behind his ear as changbin turns around.

“woojin’s done with dinner. come eat before we have to go.”  
“alright. i’ll be there in a sec!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive finally updated this omg y e s
> 
> this entire chapter is just woochan being good parents uwu
> 
> next update with either be in a week of a decade there is no inbetween yIKES
> 
> next mission: finish shoot me chapter 3 has been initiated
> 
> leave comments and kudos!!! they keep me going and w/o them this wouldnt have been updated!!!


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